The 2006–07 Las Vegas Wranglers season was the Las Vegas Wranglers fourth season in the ECHL. The regular season began on October 20, 2006 against the Fresno Falcons and concluded on April 7, 2007 against the Stockton Thunder. The Wranglers looked to improve upon their progress made in the 2005–06, which had been the Wranglers best season in team history and third best in ECHL history, in which they had 53 wins and 112 points finishing only 1 point behind division rival, Alaska for the Brabham Cup. The Alaska Aces added salt to the Wrangler's wounds by knocking them out of the Kelly Cup playoffs in the West Division Finals in six games.
During the regular season, the Wranglers saw their first championships as they won the Pacific Division crown and the Brabham Cup. The Wranglers swept the Phoenix RoadRunners in a hard fought National Conference Quarterfinal seriees, four games to zero, but were upset by the eventual Kelly Cup championIdaho Steelheads in six games.
Pre-season
With the termination of the San Diego Gulls franchise, the ECHL Board of Governors decided to move the Wranglers from the West Division to the Pacific Division in the National Conference to make both divisions equal at five teams a piece. The Wranglers played thirteen of their first eighteen games on the road, including the first five games of the season, on the road, because of scheduling conflicts with the team's home, the Orleans Arena.[1]
The Wranglers began the regular season on October 20 visiting the Fresno Falcons. The team's home opener, which was originally scheduled to be on October 24 against the Phoenix RoadRunners, was played on November 3 against the Victoria Salmon Kings. The Wranglers started off the season on a 13-1-7 run, but didn't see their best winning streak until the end of the season in which they won their last 13 regular season games and their first five playoff games tying the professional ice hockey record for longest winning streak at 18 games in a row. The winning streak lasted from March 10 to April 22.[2] The Wranglers longest losing streak was three games which lasted from March 3 to March 9 and jump started the team on their record tying winning streak. The team concluded the season on April 7 with a 2 – 1 home victory over the Stockton Thunder.
Season results
The Wranglers clinched their first division championship in team history with a 4 – 2 victory on the road against the Long Beach Ice Dogs at Long Beach Arena on April 4.[3] Three days later the Wranglers clinched the Brabham Cup title when they defeated the Stockton Thunder 2–1 on the last game of the season, just edging out heated rival, the Alaska Aces by one-point, remenisent of the Brabham Cup race the two teams had just one year before, but this time ending in the Wranglers favor.[4]
During the regular season and playoffs numerous Wranglers team and individual records were broken. Regular season team records included fewest defeats (12) and most ties (14). During the regular season, Derek Edwardson set the new individual season record for power play goals (14) and Tyler Mosienko tied the record for game winning goals with 6. Marc Magliarditi extended his career record for wins (83) and games played (146) as a Wranglers goaltender, while second-year goaltender Mike McKenna set new single season records with shutouts (5) and lowest goals against average (2.21) and tied Magliarditi's single season record saves percentage (.927).
x - clinched playoff spot, y - clinched division title, z - clinched best conference record, e - eliminated from playoff contention, * - division leader
Game log
Regular season
Green background indicates win (2 points).
Red background indicates regulation loss (0 points).
White background indicates overtime/shootout loss (1 point).
The Wranglers continued their affiliation with the Calgary Flames for a fourth year, having been affiliated with Calgary since their inaugural season in 2003. The Flames assigned three prospects to Las Vegas during the season, including Chris Neiszner, who returned for his second season in Las Vegas, and Adam Cracknell and Aki Seitsonen, who each made their Wranglers debut in 2006.[8]
^Fisher, Josh (August 11, 2006). "Wranglers Release Updated Schedule". Las Vegas Wranglers. Archived from the original on November 12, 2006. Retrieved June 10, 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^Fisher, Josh (April 8, 2007). "Wranglers Clinch ECHL Best Record". Las Vegas Wranglers. Archived from the original on April 26, 2007. Retrieved June 10, 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
